


The Heart of the Ocean

by TheFlamingo013



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: ATLA Characters (mentioned), Airbender!Hinata, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avatar: The Last Airbender AU, Hundred Years War - Freeform, M/M, Multi, Not Beta Read, Reincarnation, Spirits, Tragedy, Waterbender!Oikawa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:01:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26561812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFlamingo013/pseuds/TheFlamingo013
Summary: "I love you until the sun dies."Years later and he finally gets his reply from their wounded messenger owl a week after the genocide of an entire nation. No neatly folded letter. No parchment. Just a bloodstained betrothal necklace made in the most untraditional yet beautiful manner with sapphires carved like moon drops.Nevertheless, he understood what his lover had wanted to say."I love you to the moon and back."Even if it was too late.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Oikawa Tooru, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 58
Kudos: 76





	1. “Say, would you go otter-penguin sliding with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HIIIIIIIIII  
> Writing is such a good stress reliever. So yeah, this is one of my side OiHina projects amongst the many aus I'm working on such as a bnha au or soul eater au. I don't really swap their roles with the main characters but I do put them in almost the same timeline or have them interact in a short scene. For this 5 chapters story, we have the Hundred Years War timeline which includes and is not limited to ANGST! PAIN! ANGST AND PAIN! 
> 
> This was originally a long-ass, songfic oneshot inspired by "Little Do You Know" by Alex&Sierra but I wanted to make it longer with a reincarnation tag just because XD 
> 
> A lot of canon facts will be slightly altered for the story's convenience but I'd like to hear more of your thoughts if you're also an ATLA fan :D 
> 
> With that said, enjoy and happy reading!

Tooru watches the first daybreak of the Hundred Years War’s aftermath in serene.

He suspires in the familiar cold and fresh breeze only the north could offer at the same time basks in warmth of its sunrise. Tooru may be the ocean spirit’s physical form but the remnants of his humanity could still make him _feel_ and appreciate the many beautiful gifts of nature. For each day was different, and if he was still counting from whence the nightmare began, this could possibly be the best period to be alive for _it was over_ \- the destruction, chaos, meaningless quests for vengeance, and deaths. It took the whole world united by the last airbender to quench the war’s raging fire lit by generations of power-hungry kings. 

It was finally over and Tooru could move on now.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Yue trails behind him as her heavy robes drapes across the snow without leaving a single trail.

“It may cost you a little more than that.” He grins at her, earning a soft chuckle from the moon spirit in return. Tooru may not admit it out loud in apprehension that his counterpart will _pettily_ retaliate but he preferred Yue’s face over Akiteru’s or Kei’s- the other forms Tui used to wear years ago. They were all its children after all, ones it favored by sharing its life force with them, solely represented by the paling of their hair color. While the two brothers had light-toned rays of sunlight for locks, Yue had pure white. 

He never questioned why Koushi was not included in that mix, knowing that his cousin’s gruesome death had barred Tui from interfering in the attempt to take back what was rightfully it. 

Tooru however, was a special case. La has always been depicted as the black koi fish with eyes mirroring the ocean’s dark abyss but ever since they’ve merged, the ocean spirit’s has been seldom painted as a handsome man no older than twenty-seven with dark brown hair and sharp eyes with a phantasmic presence draped in ivory decorated, midnight blue robes underneath his tall built. Over the years his portrait improves with a clearer depiction of his figure, making him appear more human than a ghost. 

One could daresay that he looked like one of the northern generals antebellum. They’re not wrong though, for Tooru was once mortal born in one of the most tragic period in the world. But being the older of the two by a century and recognizing Yue as his kin by his nephew’s lineage made him more comfortable with her than with Akiteru’s sly and conniving self or Kei's sorry excuse of companionship.

Tooru would rather be alone for another century than deal with the latter’s sarcastic and pointed self.

“How much?” Yue presses, always thriving for a conversation or two with her counterpart especially when it included tales from his past life. She was young when she died and had never truly experienced the world like Tooru did, which is why he indulges her curiosity without much thought. So he hums, thinks about how they’ve both suffered in the war and while he shouldn’t measure and compare tragedy, he had a feeling he could share this relatable memory with her.

After all, Yue lost a lover too.

With a flick, the sunrise melts and their world turns upside down and right back up again. The moon spirit marvels in the art of his enchantment, an advantage of being a waterbender in his previous life, as the ocean rises and falls beneath them before the scenery returns to the edge of the Northern Water Tribe. They were right back where they stood, but at the same time not exactly so. Because a hundred years ago there was no barricade from the cliff, providing a generous view of the sun and moon alternately dipping against the ocean. But its beauty was also precarious for thousands of feet below are the raging waters clashing against the rocky spikes of the shore that will drown the screams of eminent death.

Yue in her past life was never allowed there, even when her great ancestor Takeru had put up a safety ice wall against it without entirely compromising its seascape.

“I jest.” Tooru replies. “It’s priceless.”

A boy with dark brown hair in an overly accessorized anorak stomps passed them. His cheeks were red, burning in the frostbite of the early spring as well as from the humiliation he had suffered. 

“I HATE EVERYONE!!!” He unabashedly screams into the air. The snow follows the aptitude of his emotions, rising and falling in his space as he continues to yell and curse towards the sky. 

Yue watches in amusement upon recognizing the boy, her eyes noticeably darts back and forth between the current and young Tooru for comparison. While the ocean spirit knew he had aged well, he was _very much aware_ that his past self was a horrid runt with an insufferable character, or in Hajime’s words, the embodiment of human garbage.

For Tooru was no older than twelve when he first met the love of his life- young, abrasive, arrogant and didn’t know any better. Which follows amongst one of the greatest regrets in his life which was not spending those moments wisely. In hindsight, the world at that time had more important matters than entertaining him in his inability to recognize his soulmate or indulge his inferiority complex towards his entire clan and the Southern Tribe’s prodigy. Tooru’s tantrums were his own and he dissipates his anger and confusion by raising hell.

Or in his element, the ocean. 

Earlier that day, the Northern Water Tribe has welcomed the envoys from the Northern Air Temple. At the expense of Avatar Roku’s recent and unfortunate passing, succeeded by the joyous occasion from the wails of a new born baby within the Southern Air Temple, the council sat in the great and icy walls of the fortress’s best seating room to discuss which amongst their masters would be willing and qualified to train the new avatar.

Which was a ridiculous notion on Tooru’s part because the new avatar was obviously _still a baby_ who probably drooled and sleep twenty-four seven, hell, his name hasn’t been revealed yet due to strict avatar protocols which was at the age of sixteen yet the adults were already a hundred steps before him-

~~He understood it was due to _horrifying_ circumstances later on. ~~

~~~~

In unfortunate attendance wasTooru seated in a perfect kneeling position next to Koushi’s smiling face and Hajime’s notably bored expression. They were told to join these council meetings as early as possible to familiarize themselves with tribe politics as the three were chief candidates, only one qualified to rule in the future.

Tooru at that time drowned his parents’ enthusiasm and thinks about the baby who undoubtedly bears the face of Ta Min, Roku’s previous love, instead. It was a myth that when the avatar dies, he or she is reincarnated with the face of the person whom they’ve cherished the most in the previous life. Chiharu and Koushi _swooned_ at romantic concept of it whereas Hajime flat out didn’t care while Tooru states that _it’s downright creepy_.

_Because why on earth would you wear the face of the person you use to kiss?_

Stupidly he had said his thoughts aloud which halted the entire hearing. His parents were horrified and his fellow candidates did their terrible best to suppress the bubbling laughter that threatened to escape their lips. The envoys on the other hand just smiled with amusement. However, he was still ~~ungracefully kicked out~~ dismissed from the hearing and will no doubt get a lecture or two afterwards. 

It wasn’t fair, young Tooru thinks, that he had to bite his tongue down and hold his thoughts for the sake of _not hurting anyone’s silly feelings_ which was ridiculous because wasn’t being the tribal chief supposed to come with unapologetic honesty? Especially if the intent was for the greater good. But of course, no one understood and had viewed him as a crude child who speaks without thinking instead.

And so like most of his endeavors, or specifically how he spends his punishment when he does something out of place, young Tooru made his way to the edge where the comforting sounds of the ocean waves was all he could hear.

Unfortunately, someone had already beaten him to it.

Yue watches from the sideline as a small hooded figure slightly turns his head at the sound of the waterbender’s footsteps. The moon spirit was surprised for she had not noticed the other boy in their presence due to the blinding white of his cloak blending with the snow. It was a peculiar choice of clothing for only Earth Kingdom citizens wear that color under the green of their robes or on rare occasions, the Fire Nation people on funerals.

“… A spirit?” she asks to which Tooru just shook his head in response. The boy had a mix of unfamiliar features for someone who was born without affiliation to the spirits.

Young Tooru on the other hand, was visibly shaken at the intruder of the place he calls his secret hideout. But just as about he was to stomp towards him to give the boy a piece of his mind, the latter abruptly stood up from his sitting form and _jumped._

Both Yue and young Tooru screamed but the ocean spirit was unfazed.

The waterbender’s fast-acting reflexes quickly overcomes the shaken state that grounded him for in a blink of an eye the snow dissolves into water under his feet. He bends it to _slide and slide faster!_ one arm outstretched to reach even just the smallest piece of the boy’s article and other to keep his balance at bay. But when Tooru _does_ manage to successfully grab him by his lithe wrist, they both. Fall. Faster.

Tooru pushes the boy further into his chest and cracks an eye open to bend the sea in their favor to lessen the impact of their fall but alas, the salt waters from the bottom of the cliff were frozen solid with icy pikes and sharp rock-cut edges. 

They were falling faster and they were going to die.

Young Tooru holds the boy closer, mentally sending a prayer to whatever deity was available out there that they’d land in one of the snow beds instead. His eyes shut tight and his breathing painfully stills as he braces for the impact-

But nothing. _Absolutely nothing_ of sort happens. 

They didn’t fall- no bones and sickening cracks or blood splattered against the hard snow. Instead, the boys were only a couple of feet off the ground as the gentle wind lands them down.

Yue’s gasps were drowned by young Tooru’s loud ones as they float to a safer side of the coastal. The white cloak flies off, airily dancing alongside the morning chill as it reveals more of the boy underneath it- vibrant orange locks that shone brightly with the sunrise behind them, cheeks flushed from the cold like the rest of his sun-kissed skin that was barely covered in yellow clothing which no doubt belonged to the Air Nomads.

He was an airbender, and while Tooru had seen what the envoys could do, flying without an evident gale of wind under their feet _definately_ wasn’t included. 

“T-that was,” from a closer view, Tooru could make out his bright beryl eyes that fluttered against the tiny snowflakes that decorated his face. “AMAZING!”

“What-?”

The boy spoke _so fast_ as if he wasn’t running out of breath while Tooru felt his knocked out of his lungs. In another time, Tooru would’ve basked in the endless string of compliments about how his bending form was _elegant_ and _quick_ and _just amazing_ but his thoughts were too clouded that the shower of praises fell deaf on his ears. They almost died and all this, this shorty was thinking was-

“Say, would you go otter-penguin sliding with me?” 

Tooru takes a deep breath, and another one, and another one. He turns to look at the boy one more time as he walks towards him, emphasizing the clear difference of their age and especially their height.

“ARE YOU CRAZY?!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No certain update sched yet T^T  
> Still adjusting with classes and student org works but I'll do my best to make it weekly at least.
> 
> Some altered facts were Avatar's Aang's training details as well as the flying thing, which was considered a form of specialized bending. Acc. to the fandom's site- it is a complex and extremely rare skill that has only ever been demonstrated by two known airbenders, Guru Laghima and Zaheer. In this story, Shouyou joins the list. 
> 
> More will be explained in the first chapter, one that will undoubtedly be longer and messier. But hey, do it for the OTP and my fellow shippers!


	2. "What did you wish for?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whale noises*
> 
> This took a little longer to write despite the plot points as my guide. It took so many revisions to decide how to tell the story ranging from Yue and Tooru’s POV since the flow was from a pool of memories to the present but that would hinder it from understanding the young and mortal Tooru’s thoughts in those moments. 
> 
> So I decided to always start it off with memory Tooru’s POV and end it with the spirits. The epilogue however, will mirror the first chapter. Hope I don’t make it confusing but if I do, please let me know!
> 
> With that said, enjoy and happy reading~

Tooru dislikes a lot of things. And for a twelve-years-old that’s a lot of resentment in a baggage to carry at a young age.

He dislikes being the current tribal chief’s son that comes with the uncertainty if he would be chosen to succeed his father or not. Water Tribe traditions does not secure a dynasty rule wherein blood alone will ensure one a seat in the political table, rather, it should be _earned_.

He likes competing, but not with his overachieving cousin Koushi- whose hair shone like the moonlight paired with a sweet smile that could overturn any situation in his favor and with his childhood friend Hajime- who was gifted with all the strength and virtues a water tribe person stands for.

Now Tooru maybe young but he already knew the two were more loved than he was for their natural charisma prevails over the desperate attempts he calls hard work. Yet his pride wins over the envying nature of his person at the thought that he had done _everything_ he could on his part, paired with sweat and blood, for a sliver of individual recognition.

After all, Tooru would rather be loved alone than to be loved as a set. 

The next which ranks third of his dislike list would be being the _only_ waterbender in the quartet of his friends, which follows through a great difference in his training regimen from Hajime, Issei and Takahiro's. While Tooru was learning to make the water dance to the tune of his body, the other three were drilled in the art of weaponry such as the spear, the sword, the bow and arrow- which in his opinion, were _much cooler._ And it doesn’t help that he had to spend his waterbending lessons with Koushi who was always one form ahead of him.

~~And the tribe wondered why he had an inferiority complex as big as the ocean.~~

The rest of Tooru’s list were too petty to dishonorably mention such as how he didn’t like sea prunes in his soup, living with his witch of a sister, Chiharu, who screams like an siren-banshee, or the morning drills he had to go through which was diving head first into the cold waters. He knew that the last one was something _everyone_ in the tribe his age had to go through but it offered him no consolation to freeze down to his bones just because he was a waterbender in the Water Tribe.

But most of all, at the godly tier of what he hates and _absolutely_ abhors, is the existence of geniuses.

He hates people who are so loved by the gods and favored by fate that they had everything handed down to them in a silver platter. People like Tobio of the Southern Water Tribe for example, who was most likely to be named a master in a year or two.

It was _infuriating_ because Tooru had met the insufferable brat once and was deluded into teaching him a few tricks. And how did Tobio repay him? By humiliating him at an exhibition match during the solstice festival. That night burned a hole in his memory core when the younger waterbender has thrown him off the stage by the ankle using a water rope- a technique that took Tooru an entire month to master and seconds for Tobio for execute perfectly.

He would’ve slapped the raven-haired boy had it not been for Hajime holding him down. Tooru was too angry at that time to consider how the weight of his actions could affect their tribe’s friendly relations which was already on thin ice. 

This brings him to his current predicament who is the enigma and nuisance from Northern Air Temple named Shouyou.

Young Tooru learns that the peculiar, ginger-haired airbender is named after the sun which oddly suited him due to the innate amount of the cheerfulness he exudes that radiated brighter than the star itself. He would’ve liked Shouyou as the younger one was fixated with his _amazing_ waterbending skills that Tooru would’ve let _the falling-off-the-cliff incident_ be forgiven for he was generous like that, but his thoughts waned from the doe-eyed, adoring boy to yet another genius in revelation. His mother had mentioned that the nomad was indeed travelling with the envoys and while he wasn’t a master of his element yet, Shouyou could _fly_.

Now Tooru didn’t completely understand the entire context behind the complicated airbending form but he definitely got the gist that no has been able to master that technique beside the pioneer himself, Guru langhima- a known Nomad figurehead from many years ago. A lot of his disciples had tried to reproduce and relearn the form but Shouyou apparently, had been able to execute the _flight or weightlessness_ since he could walk.

Tooru seethes at the thought at how nice it would be to be born with these gifts.

With that knowledge, he starts to avoid and blatantly ignore the nomad. His mother chided him for being rude towards a guest while the hurt that flashes across Shouyou’s face whenever he turns the other cheek in his presence was enough to ignite the guilt in him. But Tooru’s pride _always_ wins, determined not to give in to the wants of the people around him for he was not a people pleaser like Koushi or a convenience like Hajime. 

It was easier to put Shouyou on his growing list of dislikes to retaliate against the unnamed feelings that began to resurface whenever he had the unfortunate luck to see the nomad on his morning drills- vibrant orange locks against the morning light paired with a pretty smile that eluded with so much innocence- 

Anyways, Tooru stands by his point and it doesn’t help that Shouyou was always present with the envoys on the very meetings the three chief candidates were barred from attending. The airbender was no doubt younger than them yet was treated with a sense of equal grounds in the seating room. Sure he was hailed like some sort of a genius in his nation but not even Tobio could get half of the special treatment he did.

Throughout the meeting, Shouyou sat in a perfectly still position while the adults talked amongst themselves. He didn’t utter a _single word_ but Tooru could make out the slight gestures that meant he wasn’t idly sitting by, instead, he was observing like an eagle-hawk. He drank the information that has been callously passed around and exchanged with ease, understanding the complexities of their discussions like he wasn’t ten.

Tooru knows this because he had admittedly snuck in a few times with Koushi on his back and Hajime who only followed them to ensure that there would be no trouble for the Water Tribe and Air Nomad’s relations- which wasn’t something to actually worry about since the nomads aren’t exactly capable of hating on anyone.

The words _murdered_ , _avatar_ , and _colonies_ were exchanged in hush whispers amongst the adults. By the end of the meeting, the trio always manage to leave undetected but the feeling of _dread_ weighed heavy on their conscience.

They were just twelve, Hajime and Koushi turning thirteen in four months, but far from ignorant. Tribe politics had taught them much, after all. With their training and lessons doubled, and everything else done in _so much haste_ that one could only conclude that they were preparing for something big. A war, possibly. 

It takes a while before Tooru stops questioning the elder’s actions and tries to get answers for himself instead, even if it meant that he had to stop avoiding the nomad like a plague.

For Shouyou of the Northern Air Temple as an active participant of war meetings must mean that he was truly a force to be reckoned with.

… If only Tooru could see pass through his silly antics which includes and was not limited to _partying_ at his spot with ten new company in the form of black and white with two pairs of flippers.

“Hey! You finally came!” says Shouyou, as if he had been expecting Tooru all along, before he fell face-flat into the snow when an otter-penguin his height accidentally slapped him with a flipper. Tooru had to bite the inside of his cheeks to stop himself from laughing.

“My name is not _hey_ , it’s Tooru. Learn to respect your elders.” Tooru sternly replies before walking towards him. But Shouyou just beamed at the waterbender radiating with _blinding_ enthusiasm that the latter had to squint. “Alright Tooru. Did you finally decide to go otter-penguin sliding with me?”

“… sure.” If he wanted to get information, Tooru will have to indulge him first. Even if it meant riding an otter-penguin at an incredible pace down a steep, snowy mountain and being thrown off the salty waters for more than one occasion his fingers could count. 

* * *

The ocean spirit then manipulates the realm of his memories in the form of water ripples that changes the scenery like in every wash down movement.

From there, Yue sees where young Tooru transforms from an insecure and mistrustful pre-teen into what a twelve-years-old boy should actually act- _happy and without worry,_ without the crushing weight of pressure and expectations sitting on his shoulder. In hindsight, Avatar Aang was the same age as Tooru while his group no less than sixteen when they have been robbed of their childhood to fight the war entrusted to them before they were even born.

It was easy to forget that no lives were supposed to be forfeited for anyone else’s convenience. 

In those moments, Shouyou takes the waterbender to places he’s never been to with his bison companion or straight flying hundreds and thousands of feet off ground. Tooru would trash around, release an undignified scream that could rival a bat-monkey, while Shouyou just laughs. It took a long while for Tooru to stop getting motion sickness but when he did, his breath _hitched._

The view from the summit was truly astonishing. 

Tooru then starts to sneak out of his lessons to competitively sled with Shouyou, who would bend a gust of air in his favor to gain a more accelerated speed. This prompted Tooru to bribe the otter-penguins with fish in determination to best Shouyou out his game via friendly relations. Though he ends up regretting it later that night when Chiharu’s hideous shrills woke the entire tribe upon the discovery that a mob of otter-penguins have followed him home.

Come nightfall and Shouyou would sneak into his room through the balcony because the hours of the day was too short for them. They would share stories that either consisted of Tooru’s bragging paired with Shouyou’s unlimited vocabulary of genuine compliments or the airbender’s experiences of the world beyond the icy walls of the north- the exotic food, rich culture and the dancing- a favorite past time of the nomad, of how he learns to coordinate a different set of choreographed movements based on other people's forms of bending.

All in all, it was _amazing._

The nomad, so warm and so bright, melted the icy walls Tooru has built around his heart. He eventually forgets the initial motive of his plan which was to get information about the war meetings but at that time it was for best, as young Tooru would’ve probably never recover from learning the whole truth that was just starting to unravel. Instead, his mind was preoccupied with the green monster gnawing at his guts as Shouyou danced for Koushi and Hajime’s shared birthday. It was no surprise that the other two chief candidates were drawn to him too that it created a tug of war for the airbender’s time of the day.

Shouyou was a breath of fresh air, a sun shining brightly in his corner and Tooru wasn’t ready to share him with the world.

But on the night of his thirteenth birthday, the two spends it in a makeshift pillow and pelt fortress in Tooru’s bed that will undoubtedly earn him a scolding for the giant mess. Neither cared though, cherishing every second of the moment for come morning and their time together would _expire_. There were no stories exchanged that night, no laughter and no words.

The bell tower then chimes which signaled for midnight but neither broke eye contact, not even when Shouyou spoke up. 

“What did you wish for?” he whispers.

 _For this to never end._ “For something sweet.”

Shouyou giggles before pulling a box he had hidden at his side of the bedcovers. “Or so you’ve told me a hundred times.” 

* * *

“So _that_ is why we offer milk bread every mid-June of the year.” Yue had always thought the tradition to be a _little peculiar_ that it took offering a pastry that originated from the nomads to appease the annual ocean storms. To her surprise, it was to satisfy Tooru’s sweet tooth.

The ocean spirit however, just shrugs unapologetically. Milk bread was one of the many delicacies Shouyou had introduced to him that he had continued to have it made even when the nomad left the north the morning of his birthday up to his death. And if anything, the tradition was unknowingly started by Takeru who made those annual and silent offerings to his grave at the cliff that the tribe must’ve mistaken it as something sacred.

Nevertheless, Tooru doesn’t complain for the milk bread was too delicious to pass up anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …. Or basically this chapter was the slow build-up of childhood sweethearts, Tooru yeeting himself off the snowy mountains via otter-penguin and milk bread. 
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated :D  
> NEXT UPDATE: SEPT. 30
> 
> UPDATE UPDATE: Next chapter at Oct 1 T^T sorry! I had so much on my plate that while the next chapter's written out already I hadn't proofread the entire draft yet. -TheFlamingo. 30/09/202


	3. "May I have this dance?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the delay! Things had been hectic on my end T^T but nevertheless I want to finish this story.

The concept of being reborn with the face of the person whom you’ve loved dearly in your past life aside, there was also a mention of the existence of soulmates- a knowing certainty that there was _someone_ out there who is your destined pair, the other and better half of your being who can make you _whole,_ be it platonic or romantic.

Now Tooru didn’t care for the myths and legends for he had always disregarded them as an old wives tale but from the moment he met a certain ginger-haired airbender, he knew Shouyou had convinced him otherwise.

“It’s not the worst thing in the world.” Shouyou who was younger than him yet wiser, had told him that even the overly romanticized stories from the old ages could actually serve as hope for the dreamers. “To love, I mean.” 

They were so young back then, but even Tooru wasn’t completely oblivious to the innocent yet _terrifying feelings_ that began to surface after his friend left on the morning of his birthday. A prolonged coming of realization that living in nihilistic denial serves no merit to the joyous gift called life, for he was definitely certain that the airbender is his soulmate.

Even if it took years to accept that.

And so he decided to forfeit his place in the chief candidacy to be a diplomat instead. Tooru explained that he wanted to see the world beyond the icy walls of the north, to be an actual contributing member of society by helping maintain peace with the other regions to prevent even a small margin of the rumored war from breaking out and maybe, _just maybe_ , reunite Shouyou again.

His parents were livid at what seemed like an abrupt decision but Chiharu was unexpectedly supportive. For she was married now and had a child of her own- Takeru, who lives vicariously in her. Growing up as the perfect Water Tribe daughter for their family made her realize that this wasn’t the life she wanted for her brother. So ever the haughty person she was, Chiharu had packed Tooru’s belongings and threw him out of their house through the balcony.

Chiharu means well, she really does.

But before Tooru boarded the next ship with only a few clothes in his satchel, a bag of coins and four pieces of milk bread, he bids his cousin and childhood friends farewell.

At the pier he apologizes to Koushi for antagonizing him throughout their youth and explains that while his insecurities were not an excuse to take it out on his cousin, he promised to be a better version of himself when he comes home. The silver-haired waterbender of course, took no offense as he had always emphasized with the overwhelming pressure Tooru had carried in his shoulder. Though Koushi did request for his cousin ensure that some rather, _racy letters,_ were to be discreetly delivered to a certain Fire Nation marine from the Southern Ravens Fleet. This was due to the fact that Koushi’s parents started to strictly monitor his social life, most especially his correspondences. 

Tooru blushes ten shades of scarlet before accepting the letters, reeling at the weight of the suggestive paragraphs he’d rather not read or know about.

On the other hand, Issei and Takahiro just shrugged his apology off. They had known each other since diapers, were the quartet of mayhem with Hajime before the two began training for tribal chief. Admittedly there were some strain in their relationship, but the estrangement made the two find comfort in each other’s arms and _something more._ So the knowledge that Tooru was going out there to find his love, then he definitely had their blessing and support.

“There better be a necklace in someone’s neck when I get back.” Says Tooru, marking his return to which the two just grinned. _It was a promise._

Hajime was surprisingly the most difficult one to hold a conversation with as his childhood friend was insistent that Tooru was just being an _unreasonable coward_ , which ignited the anger from the pits of his stomach all the way to his fist. They exchange blows, first skillfully maneuvering around each other as Hajime brandishes the dull end of his spear while Tooru dances with the sharp whips of the water until finally they were reduced to ungraceful punches and hair yanking _so awkward_ Koushi had to pull them apart by freezing them for a good ten seconds until they felt the cold seep into their bones.

“You’re really-”Hajime wheezes as he collapses next to the wet brunet sprawled across the icy floor. “A shitty person, you know that?”

Tooru painfully smiles through the gashes, because even though he knew he lost the fight, he had won the war. The waterbender had managed to get through to his childhood friend.

And so he bids them farewell one last time as his ship leaves the docks. The tears come but he smiles through it because that was how he wanted them to remember him- strong, brave, _defying_ -

Tooru screams upon realizing that the comforting hand patting his back was an otter-penguin’s flipper.

* * *

The seascape halts for a mere second before reversing back and forth, changing the deep blues to a paler shade. The ocean spirit bends the water with a flick of a wrist, then a tight clench of his palms to send the waves crashing down. From where they stood, the realm of Tooru’s memories shifts forward to display the young man no longer wearing his parka or pelts but a light blue changsan and black trousers. The only identifying Water Tribe mark were the tightly wrapped bandages around his arms.

With the weather always in his favor, the young diplomat wandered around the busy streets of the first foreign village he has ever set foot onto at Kiyoshi Island. 

Suns and moons passed and Tooru had easily adapted to his life at sea. With his six crewmates and Toto- the otter-penguin who has accidentally boarded the ship with him, they had travelled to Ba Sing Se for an audience with the boisterous king to let them know they were open for alliances. Now Tooru was mature enough to know what exactly went on during the war meetings and while the information made him nauseous, his fears were confirmed- the Fire Nation were indeed making colonies throughout the smaller regions of the Earth Kingdom. The reason for the entire agenda has yet to be known but the Air Nomads had already decided to train the Avatar earlier than expected _just in case._

The waterbender pities the five-years-old child robbed of his childhood to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.

After his successful endeavors, Tooru mades his way to Omashu with a group of nonbender nomads who taught him a catchy song that goes “Secret tunnel! Secret tunnel!” which Tooru unabashedly sings to. His voice _was so bad_ that Toto refused to walk in his pace despite needing the waterbender to create a makeshift cooling patch for the otter-penguin every hour.

Another year later and he finally wounds up in the Northern Air Temple. While their ship could only dock miles away from the elevated ancient structures, a group of air nomads had invited them to ride a sky bison instead of travelling by foot. Tooru’s crewmates were shocked to see him devoid of any motion sickness, as first time travelers in air usually do.

“You rode one before?” one of the air nomads asks to which Tooru nods his head in delight. “A long time ago.” He purposely leaves an enigmatic smile when the memories of sunset colored hair and the feeling of weightlessness on his feet resurfaced. For Tooru had never forgotten Shouyou, and after six years they finally get to see each other again on unexpected circumstances.

_Spontaneous,_ just how they loved it.

Brown eyes sparkled in wonder upon reaching their destination- a majestic compound upright on a hill hidden beyond the clouds. And just how lady fate liked it, Tooru conveniently spots a familiar looking ginger-haired airbender at the courtyard. He grew a couple inches taller, showing more sun-kissed skin in a mere red shawl draped across his chest and a pair of brown trousers. There were no marks of the blue tattoos yet but the way Shouyou danced around the air sending gales and gusts of winds to his sparring partner’s ways no doubt screamed more precision and control than of their childhood days.

“SHOUYOU!” Tooru yells and was met with shocked beryl eyes. The waterbender grins at the comical expression he had managed to draw out of the younger boy as Tooru’s name comes out as a whisper from his lips. Tooru didn’t give him another second to react as he climbs out of the bison’s mantle _and jumped._

* * *

“You’re crazy.” Shouyou whispers against the waterbender’s ear, feeling Tooru slightly shiver against his chest.

They were suspended midair when the ginger-haired nomad blasts a gale from the sole of his feet- accelerating his speed to buy a few more seconds in time to catch Tooru in his arms. 

“Or so I’ve been told.”

* * *

The canvas of that particular scene melts into countless daybreaks and sunsets as Yue musses at their particular interaction. Tooru claimed that his bungee jumping stunt was merely to give Shouyou a taste of his own medicine, which in context was referred to as an inside joke of a certain incident from many years ago. Shouyou on the other hand, was exasperated that the waterbender was still petty as ever.

After skipping the pleasantries and introducing one another, Tooru and his crewmates and his high-maintenance of an otter-penguin to the air nomads residing the entire northern temple, the two decided to reenact their fated reunion in the form of a tight embrace.

They relearn each other in between Shouyou’s temple duties and Tooru’s diplomatic meetings.

Shouyou praises Tooru’s decisiveness to explore the world at the cost of the Northern Water Tribe's familiarity and comfort, admires his enthusiasm for the other regions’ culture, and his new profound courage. Gone was the vain twelve-years-old boy who was hungry _to prove something_ to the world who owed him nothing in return to a young adult brimming with charisma and an insatiable sense of adventure. A newer and better version of Tooru of the Northern Water Tribe, though Shouyou had assured him he likes him both ways.

But Tooru could barely return the sentiments as he grew envious of Shouyou’s tales, not for the continents he’s been that the waterbender has yet to see, but for the people he had engaged with. For starters, _Tobio_ \- who happened to be one of the persons Shouyou trained with during his travels. Tooru drowned out the airbender’s onomatopoeias choice of words as he tries to explain the similarities of the two elemental forms in favor of the dark thoughts that his junior was a contender of Shouyou’s heart.

“Tooru, are you even listening?” Shouyou snaps his fingers in front of Tooru’s face to which he, by his bold nature, took the airbender’s hand to shamelessly kiss his palm. The airbender was instantly reduced into a blushing mess.

“I am.” Tooru still doesn’t let go of his palm, instead, wraps his fingers around Shouyou’s and keeps it at that. “Do continue.”

Shouyou tries not to look affected despite the crimson dusting his cheeks as he opts to continue his story telling. The airbender shifts the topic from Tobio to his mentor, the Earth King Koutarou and his ~~sinfully beautiful~~ adviser Keiji. As it turned out, the two were incredibly fond of Shouyou that they had gifted him a messenger owl named Bokuto. Which in Tooru’s case was a rarity. But Bokuto also served as a farewell present for the ginger-haired nomad before he ultimately returned to his hometown to complete his airbending training. Tooru didn’t bother to hide the second wave of his jealousy upon learning that the airbender wrote to so many people to keep in touch with.

“Then how come you never wrote to me?”

The airbender’s shoulder slumped. “Would you have written back if I did?”

Truthfully, Tooru didn’t know for he was a very bitter person after Shouyou left. He had shut himself out for the remainder of the year, buried his mind into studying geography and threw his body into waterbending practice until one of his knee gave out. But only when he had hit his lowest did he realize that he had to climb back up.

“What inspired you?”

“You.”

Because Tooru knew the ginger-haired airbender was his soulmate, could feel a phantom tug, a strong call of longing and how the buttermoths inside him flutters at the thought of Shouyou. Hajime once told him that he was just _lovesick_ \- a fleeting crush from the boy he had met winters ago. But Hajime was wrong because Shouyou was everything but, for when the sun goes down doesn’t mean it’s gone forever.

Six years later and Tooru can still confirm that his silly infatuation was indeed love. 

And so at the final eve of Tooru’s stay in the Northern Air Temple, he and his crewmates spends it around a bonfire passing bittersweet alcohol and the odd combination of berry salad in consideration for Shouyou’s diet. They ate as if it was the heartiest meal ever served in their platter, sing their hearts out and dance to the silly tune of the tsungi horn.

_Young warrior with a brave soul but a timid heart,_

_Loved the ocean carelessly._

_He swam the great and vast divide of art,_

_And searched for its treasure callously._

_Angered,_

_The sea swallowed him whole and tore him apart._

Shouyou’s light feet gyrates to the rhythm of the morbid tale sang in a cheery tone. He would send a gentle gust of wind in between his dancing that it was hard to differentiate the graceful movements from an airbending form. He eventually made his way to Tooru’s seat; an arm extended an invitation to him and only him. “May I have this dance?”

_Young warrior with the guts of steel,_

_Loved the ocean effortlessly._

_Humbled,_

_The swallowed him and joyed its meal._

From making his own decisions that satisfies no one but himself to travelling into the greater unknown, Tooru has forgotten fear. “Gladly.”

Their movements start slow, hands on Shouyou’s waist and the smaller one’s on his broad shoulder. Another day and their height difference would’ve irked Shouyou but tonight with their bodies pressed against each other in a very intimate manner, his thoughts were undoubtedly filled with something else. Something pleasant.

When the tune shifts with a louder beating of the drum, the airbender literally _sweeps Tooru off his feet_ and suddenly they were midair. Their form doesn’t break but their grip on each other tightens. They sway, turn, and shift to the gale of the gentle wind the night has to offer.

“Don’t let me fall.” The waterbender hissed when he felt himself miss a step.  
“Never.”

And Tooru kisses him right there and then before the confession makes it out of his lips. Shouyou’s mouth’s parts in a gasp but gently returns the gesture. Both pair of eyes was shut tight, but neither breaks apart until they realized their feet were already planted back on the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter thoughts- Tooru and his otter-penguin Toto? If Shouyou gets an owl then Tooru should definitely have his own animal companion XD
> 
> So I'll be extending this story to seven chapters instead, as the next one will have an intermission for the Suga/Sawamura ship (literally). And I have poor planning skills ahahahah.  
> With that said, thank you for reading! 
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated :D  
> Next Update: October 7


	4. Thoughts about wedding ceremonies?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Confusing af, slight (a smudge of) sexual content

**_Tooru of the Northern Water Tribe_ **

_Find enclosed in this letter is an owl whistle for Bokuto. I expect you to use it well._

True to his words, the white wood intricately carved like half of an owl wing would call upon Shouyou’s exotic messenger bird. Tooru, who had found the neatly packed note after Toto had decidedly gone through his satchel again, grinned.

Come morning after Tooru’s misfired confession that unexpectedly yielded a desirable outcome instead, the crew were back on their ship and was ready to sail the orange colored tides reflecting daybreak once more. But leave it to Shouyou to come up with an unexpected surprise for him. 

“Alright, Shouyou of the Northern Air Temple.” He says to no one but the ocean stretching in his horizon. “I hope to make you successfully fall in love with me.”

* * *

**_Northern Air Temple_ **

_Shouyou,_

_I have ~~begrudgingly~~ returned to the north upon the receiving Issei and Takahiro’s matrimonial invitation. I would’ve wanted to bring you along but alas, you are at the final months of your training. For that, I wish you nothing if not all of the best._

_This is the first of the entire year that Toto has managed to feel and slide across real ice and is reunited with the rest of his waddle. Surprisingly, I had a spot in their welcoming party that would’ve made you jealous at the sight. That and I have also greatly improved in sledding that would put your cheap airbending tactics to shame._

_Yours truly,_

_Tooru._

_P.S_

_Thoughts about wedding ceremonies?_

****

**_Northern Water Tribe_ **

_Tooru,_

_I am beyond astonished that you used Bokuto to send me a petty message about your bragging- but did you really think shamelessly bribing an entire waddle can compensate for your lack of balance in the aerial force? I beg to differ. Nevertheless, I cannot wait to prove it to you in person so prepare yourself._

_And good for Toto for wanting to see his family again ~~, unlike a certain idiot who prefers to avoid them like a plague.~~_

_But I know this is hard for you, overwhelming at most. Just know you are love and that the north is and will always be your home. As is in my heart. Send my love to Issei and Takahiro, I pray that the spirits will guide them to their favor._

_Truly yours,_

_Shouyou_

_P.S_

_The subject of marriage is a slightly complicated matter for us nomads as there is a ceremony but no grand gestures of sort. While the water tribesmen would carve a betrothal necklace out of ivory and precious stones, the monks and nuns would make drink rice wine and exchange their vows._

_P.P.S_

_Seriously though, marriage? Aren’t we moving a little too fast?_

Tooru admits that the recent letter burned his cheeks redder than accidentally walking in on his cousin and his lover upon his arrival. He had gone home to celebrate his friends entering a new life together, and while his parents were still restless with his decision, they welcomed him back with open arms anyways.

Koushi fills him in with details of what he had missed, mostly singing praises of Hajime’s newly formed battalion- the wolves. Along with the Takahiro, Issei and a handpicked group of new recruits. They were warriors of the hunt, twelve strong individuals stronger together. If it wasn’t for Tooru’s drive to become a successful diplomat then he would’ve no doubt joined in a heartbeat.

But Tooru is happy for Koushi’s strong-willed love as he openly defies his arranged marriage to Kiyoko of the south, for Hajime’s newfound success, for Takahiro putting a necklace on Issei as they kiss under the promised moon. In return, they were happy for him finding what he was looking for beyond the icy walls of the north as well as _finally_ making a move on his crush that he had exhaustingly pinned for six years.

“I see you decided to settle being pen pals.” Koushi teases when he caught him sending Bokuto off the edge. Tooru on the other hand, just rolled his eyes at his cousin. Not everyone had the guts of steel to write half of what Koushi does with his lover. 

Their first year of correspondence was playful- indulging each other with mild flirting and banters. Tooru continues to travel across the continent after his friends’ wedding while Shouyou finally gets his mark.

****

**Northern Air Temple**

_Shouyou,_

_Congratulations on becoming a full airbending master! How I wish to be there to congratulate you in person but alas, duty calls and I am on the way back Ba Sing Se. The tides of Zhai He were not kind that the ship took quite some damage from the rocky shores of the north. The only silver lining of the situation was that it bought us time to rest and resupply. As well as stroll around village because why the hell not.  
_

_Find enclosed in this letter is a pack of crushed, honeylemon tea leaves I got off a bargain at an herbalist institute._

_Yours truly,_

_Tooru._

_P.S_

_So… insensitive question but will you keep being bald or-?_

**Northern Air Temple**

_My dearest Shouyou,_

_~~Your face~~ _ _Life has flashed before my eyes as we’ve encountered the devious snake lurking before Full Moon Bay. True to its tales, the serpent was a force to reckon with. Unfortunately for it, I am a master of the element it swims in that I sent it back licking its wounds. I have a feeling it’ll be back for round two which I am more than willing to indulge in._

_Yours truly,_

_Tooru._

**Ferry Way Station**

_Recklessness does not suit you, Tooru of the Northern Water Tribe. What happened to the boy who used to make lists in his sleep? I should’ve known your thirst for adventures would've turned you into an adrenaline junkie. The years have been kind to you and your travels, yet I implore you not to take that for granted._

_May you be safe in your adventures._

_Truly yours,_

_Shouyou._

_P.S_

_The tea was amazing. Would’ve tasted better with you next to me._

_P.P.S_

_As for your latest question- no. I am planning to grow my hair back since it is not mandatory but encouraged to feel and have a better grasp of the air._

* * *

Another year later and Tooru surprises his ~~crush pen pal boyfriend?~~ lover with a sudden visit to the Northern Air Temple bearing gifts. He was twenty now and Shouyou eighteen bearing the blue marks of master. He had grown, sun kissed skin marred with visible freckles, a broader shoulder that complimented his built and cropped orange locks he was growing out. They rekindle the spark of their relationship, ignite it with a kiss and let the burn consume their body as they fall in the airbender’s bed.

They hold each other in the afterglow of their love making, basks in the warmth and addicting musky scent only their bodies could offer. Tooru knew he couldn’t stay long, not yet anyways as his last meeting with the earth king proved so, even at the price of a stable relationship he so longed for. Shouyou knew this too, but says nothing against it as he weaves his fingers through his lover’s dark locks in reassurance.

He wasn’t going anywhere. Didn’t plan to and was willing to wait for the waterbender.

“I love you until the sun dies.” Tooru murmurs. And while Shouyou didn’t need to say it back yet, the waterbender was willing to wait for him too.

* * *

**Western Air Temple**

_Tooru,_

_Please stop sending Bokuto in for petty reasons that involved flowers that awfully reminded you of me. Otherwise he would no longer come at your call, most especially since you gave him fruits for treats. Seriously love, fruits? Owls are carnivores and Bokuto would very much like a shrew-rabbit at this point._

_Truly yours,_

_Shouyou_

_P.S_

_May the spirits guide you and your travels. I pray you make it to the South safely._

_P.P.S_

_Extend my greetings to Tobio._

What the ginger-haired airbender failed to tell him was that he enjoyed every flower Tooru gifts him, preserves it in a difficult crystalizing method Keiji taught him and keeps it in a library of his possessions. It was an unorthodox arrangement, for nomads shouldn’t be attached to earthly materials. 

The memory wasn’t even from Tooru’s perspective, Yue thinks, as she watched in confusion. There were moments where Shouyou and Tooru did meet and when the latter asks if they take a midair stroll, Shouyou would tell him that he’s tired. Or compensate by doing other favorable activities instead. 

He was being… elusive. 

**_Northern Air Temple_ **

_Shouyou you are hurting my feelings! Are we not familiar with each enough to write less formally? Lest not forget that I am older than you but you speak like an elderly man scolding a child. That is a tremendous amount of turn-off when it comes to my attraction to you as I do not want our relationship to be labeled such._

_Nevertheless! The Western Air Temple is as majestic as ever, less cold and more water._

_P.S_

_Tobio who?_

**Northern Air Temple**

_Shouyou,_

_I have safely arrived at Ember Island. Unfortunately, your tales do no justice. The beach here is as breathtaking as you’ve told me- all sand and sun that I could stay here forever, but then again forever is torture without you._ _I’ve also heard some pretty interesting things about this place, about self-discovery. But I need not to mull in the darkest corner of my thoughts anymore, how can I when I know I have you. ~~I love you.~~_

_There’s a caretaker named Shinuske, I presume you’ve met, and had recommended me to watch at the theater tonight to complete the whole Ember Island experience._

_Yours truly,_

_Tooru_

_P.s_

_Every night I would take a stroll into the shores to practice my bending ~~, best to always stay in shape you know,~~ and the moon is ever bright in my corner. Are you watching the same moon as I? I hope you are. Tui doesn’t play favorites after all. _

**Ember Island**

_Tooru,_

_You are melodramatic as always._

_By the time you’ve received this letter I am inclined to believe that you have been traumatized already by the botched play. A disgrace to the original tale but an all-time favorite plays regardless. Rest assured as I’ve prayed for La to guide your soul that night._

_Also, I was not aware that you were going to take a vacation in the middle of work. I am quite envious. Take me next time when you’re at it!_

_Truly yours,_

_Shouyou_

**Whale Tail Island**

_My rock, my pillar, my love_

_Many nights have passed but the bruises of our recent passionate tryst have yet to fade. The sheets still smells of you- from the vanilla milk you love to bathe in to the fire whiskey that lingers in your breathe._

_The thrill of our arrangement encompasses the dangers that lurk within the icy walls of the north. They have ears, are slightly aware of our relationship but have chosen to turn the other cheek. This may be fleeting to them, a silly phase they think I’m just going through. But you and I both know we are very much pass that._

_Nevertheless, I will patiently wait for your reply._

_K_

**Northern Air Temple**

_URGENT!_

_Please resend that letter to the Southern Fleet! FOR THE LIFE OF TUI AND LA I HAVE NOT WRITTEN THAT NOR DO I HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT!_

_Yours truly,_

_Tooru_

_P.s_

_I ~~love you~~ miss you._

* * *

Tooru stops counting the years and days they’ve spent together in and apart but revels in the hours together instead. As their increasing attachment lingers, his friends and family from the north starts to pester him for the marriage date. Now, while his relationship with the airbender was out in the open and accepted, pass beyond the courtship phase where he would send his lover as many flowers as he could, the situation calls for something dire. Until they quench the growing sparks of the Fire Nation’s desire for power, _he will not_ marry Shouyou.

Besides, he thinks pettily, Shouyou has yet to tell him that he loves him back. 

**Crescent Island**

_Tooru,_

_By the time you’ve received this letter you may or may have not been informed that I will be teaching the Avatar himself. Me! I, for the life of Toto whom you insist on coming with you, am still reeling at the thought that I was chosen to be his mentor._

_Although he is too young to be training, unfortunate circumstances call for it, but I do believe he is more capable than what meets the eye._

_Truly yours,_

_Shouyou_

_P.S_

_The south is awfully close to where the temple is; perhaps we can make an arrangement?_

Tooru threw his head back in laughter. Four years in correspondence and Shouyou had never ceased to amaze him. The distance indeed, made his heart grow fonder at the thought of meeting his lover once again even at borrowed time.

His current mission was to randevou with the South to personally pass off Hajime’s instruction for Tobio to form his own battalion. And while Tooru still wasn’t in friendly relation with his previous protégé, he will have to put up with him in consideration as Shouyou's long standing friend. 

“I’m gonna have to ask you to do a side-quest.” Tooru instructs his otter-penguin in an oddly detailed manner to peck Tobio’s constipated face. His thoughts were so pre-occupied with Toto pecking _his face_ instead that he didn’t see the enormous blast of fire that struck their entire ship. His vision turned white, body forcibly thrown to the icy waters with only the ringing of cannons and screams in his ears before he succumbs into the darkness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KOUSHI/DACHI'S INTERMISSION CHAPTER NEXT  
> Tooru ends his letters with Yours truly while Shouyou with Truly yours
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated :D  
> Next Update: October 14


	5. "Are you okay?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Dai/Suga intermission chapter.  
> Warnings: Tooru's not so best moments and Fast paced cause I really need to maintain a less than 2.5k words in a single chapter for the sake of uniformity ahahahha

The snow was thicker in the south, Koushi thinks, as he looks back to the remainder of his footsteps. No doubt the rest had already been buried or muddled by a polar bear, or a group of otter penguins. It had completely overlaid his trail that will give whoever was sent to find him a hard time. 

_Good,_ because he wasn’t concerned in the slightest at the moment and preferred to disappear into the night after the disastrous chain of events that followed during the Solstice Tournament.

Leave it to Tooru’s inferiority complex to get the best of him when he almost struck a ten-years-old child after having his butt handed down to him. The South were displeased and had demanded a compensation to which Tooru’s father, the current Northern chief offered a marriage proposal to Tobio’s older sister- the South’s prized beauty Kiyoko. A grave mistake because they clearly wanted _no part_ with his child in their family, but that’s when Koushi’s father stepped it, generously offering his son instead.

Now the silver-haired waterbender didn’t mean to eavesdrop on the conversation, was too exhausted from the travel and the tournament’s messy aftermath, but curiosity had gotten the best of him. His name was thrown in the mix and suddenly the Southern Tribe’s council was murmuring in agreement. They found him interesting enough apparently, having been one of the children blessed by Tui’s powers. 

Koushi bites in the inside of his cheeks until he tasted metal and ran.

He wanted to resent Tooru, yell at his father and give them both a piece of his mind having been the one _to always_ clean up after his cousin’s mess but halts at the entrance of Tooru's tent when he saw the bruise forming on his left cheek. Koushi instantly forgives him then. His cousin was a horrible person, but he was also very insecure. And for all Koushi was, he was not cruel to add another chip of responsibility on his cousin’s tirade. 

Yet regardless of how he felt, his fate has been sealed.

Koushi then looks up to moon and prays for Tui to give him a sign. A telltale of what he should do when suddenly, a clap of thunder forming into lightning was on its way to strike him point blank.

The waterbender felt the air knocked out of his lungs and his lips taste dirt.

“That was dangerous!” a baritone voice yelled, followed by a string of apologies sputtered by another. “Are you okay?”

Koushi flushes when he felt the crushing heat of the body pressed against him. They abruptly got up and turn to face each other. Hazel eyes took sight of the boy was his age, raven hair and wide dark brown eyes that looked out of his place in the gray dye of his clothes. Koushi backs a good three meter distance away from him.

“I-

“Pretty.” The boy gasped as the words left his mouth before he could think, immediately mirroring the crimson blooming in the waterbender’s cheeks. “Y-your hair I mean. It has the moonlight in it.”

His felts his cheeks burn before bending the water out of the snow to encase the three intruders in ice. 

* * *

The tragic love story that transpired between the airbender of the Northern Temple and the diplomat aside, there was Koushi’s heartbreaking tale written in a very somber manner as if it was a series of wishful events from an innocent love to forlorn enemies of the war.

They were the embodiment of star-crossed lovers.

Yue knows the story by heart, captivated and moved by it even. It was commonly told as a means to scare the young Water Tribe girls of the consequences should they tamper with the marriage laws and disrespect its sacredness. Fortunately her mother had a different version, a more accurate one that doesn’t deter from the hideous truth of the war and their strict customs and at the same time, pales in comparison to tell the beauty of the love shown in it. 

The story spoke of Koushi who was loved by Tui that he wore its light in his hair and a boy who challenged the moon because he claims that he loved Koushi more.

It had a humorous start when a stray lightning, an anomaly in the South, almost struck their silver-haired protagonist but was saved by a boy from Whale Tail Island who in turn, accidentally stole his first kiss. In a more accurate telling, Koushi tasted nothing of such but snow and dirt. Nevertheless there was an important reminder that romance was a criminal offense to the Water Tribe children who were already promised to another.

Yet over the years Koushi fell in love and had loved the boy from Whale Tail Island more than he feared the spirit’s wrath.

Unfortunately, Tui did not like to share. 

They were cursed from the moment they laid eyes on each other, breaking the strings of fate that were originally woven in their stars, yet they continued to love _and love and love._

Because to love was to die for, wasn’t it? Yue finds that in Sokka upon her ~~un~~ timely death and regrets nothing. And she knows Tooru doesn’t either.

* * *

Koushi had always disliked the silver of his locks for it served as a constant reminder that he was born with a weak constitution and his parents had to dip his cold body in the sacred pool shared by Tui and La. The moon spirit had fortunately taken a liking to him and linked their life source together at the cost of discoloring his hair from brown to silver white.

Tooru never missed a day to make him feel conscious of it, calling him an elderly man at a young age, whereas the others in the tribe _didn’t really care_. He wasn’t the first person to have been blessed by Tui after all, won’t be the last either.

In short, he wasn’t special. Just another waterbender of the Northern Tribe, another candidate for chiefdom, another child of Tui yet-

_“Pretty. Y-your hair I mean. It has the moonlight in it.”_

Yet a stranger called the very thing he loathed pretty, and that plagued his mind ever since. Second to being killed by an eleven-year-old’s firebending attempt at lightning.

That fateful night burned an unfathomable memory in his mind when Koushi decided to trap and threaten the three intruders in a cage of prickly ice shards _to leave_ before an unmerciful group of adults find them trespassing on a very tribe exclusive event instead.

“You need to leave.” He repeats, droplets of water dangerously cascading in his palms.

“We’ll leave _if_ you win against us.” says the shortest one who almost shot him with fire. “I saw how you pared against your _playmates_. Not so tough 'less you got someone to back you up, huh?” 

Koushi felt a vein popped in his head but schooled his expression with a smile instead. One of his greatest weapon was the art of underestimation- a false security blanket to lull his enemies into thinking _they had the upper hand_ when in fact, they don’t. Normally he would’ve stood his ground and continue to chase them away but the night was young and the pull of the moon was hot in his blood. There was ice in his veins and Koushi needed to blow off some steam.

“Three against one? _How honorable_.” The ice cage shatters and Koushi was immediately in their space, a wave of water followed by the sole of his feet before he strikes them with a splash. He caught them off guard, and for some odd reason in lieu of their competitive spirit, they grin and take their stance.

No one holds back. 

They dance _for hours_ until daybreak, icicles thrown askew and the mixture of snow and dirt mounded everywhere.

Koushi learns of their names amidst the yelling and the trio’s poor attempt at teamwork. The short firebender with quick reflexes was Yuu, who seemed to have a penchant for flashy forms that even though he could disappear in a flash, his breathing was loud enough to alert Koushi of his presence and deflect him with an ice wall. The other with a sturdy built but meek character was Azumane- clearly an earthbender based on the green of clothes and the astounding way of commanding his element with sheer strength despite the weight of water under it. And Daichi, his heart flutters at his name, who fought with his fist in a very calculating manner that he managed a jab or hook at Koushi before the waterbender singlehandedly defeats them with a tsunami by drawing an incredible amount of water from the cliff’s edge. 

_“You’re indomitable.”_ Says Daichi as he pants against the water that grounded him, a cold mist formed in his breathe.

They leave and take Koushi’s astonishment with them. 

But what was supposed to be a peculiar, once in a lifetime meeting had yet happened again when the trio had crashed the next tournament in a painfully obvious manner. Koushi was exasperated but decided to lend them some blue parkas for disguise. As it turned out, they’ve been doing this at every opportunity with the neighboring islands for years.

“Just watching a good brawl.” Says Daichi who was from Whale Tail Island and had a small ship that could take them miles and miles away wherever they want, even though they lived islands apart with Yuu from Fire Fountain City and Azumane of Kiyoshi. How they became friends remained a mystery for the waterbender. 

Still, Koushi envied their bond the same way he envied his cousin and their quartet of friends- a group where Hajime assured him that he was welcome to join anytime but could not see himself fitting in. ~~Just another waterbender in the Northern Tribe~~. But his new friends made him felt otherwise. With them he wasn’t the son of chief’s right hand man, not the smiley candidate with silver-colored hair but Koushi who was the _indomitable_ waterbender who could bring them down to their knees. 

They became a tight knit of friends, him and Daichi exceptionally closer and not long after, Kiyoko and her smitten bodyguard, Ryu, joins in too. For a moment his eyes meet his fiancée’s and they nod in agreement to keep their secrets for now.

Over the years they send letters- the rowdy group’s relationship is sustained in correspondence using a murder of raven crow messengers and a single promise to meet at Southern Tribe’s cliff edge during annual Solstice Tournament.

From their letters, Koushi learns that Daichi was a son of a Fire Nation captain and a warrior from Kiyoshi Island. Both trained him in the art of self-defense and strategic combat to protect himself from the disapproving and hateful eyes of their village people. Interracial couples were not forbidden by law but not openly-encouraged and accepted either. Koushi knows this when he overheard their council speak of Shouyou’s heritage- a prodigy airbender whose father was from the Fire Nation too and his mother a monk of the Western Temple. Both had suffered prejudice and discrimination at an early age, which was why the young boy travelled with the envoys instead and much like Daichi who preferred using his father’s old ship and commandeering over the tides than staying unwelcomed in his parents’ villages.

He felt more at home in the sea than the shores of familiarity.

In turn, the waterbender opens up from the origins of his hair color and being a stranger in the sea of his people to knowing that he’s a pawn in the game of his tribe’s political pai sho, only leaving out the fact that he was engaged. Daichi earnestly reads his reply, providing insight and a paragraph long of a horrible tea joke he picked up in his travels or anything to appease the waterbender’s anxiety.

Koushi felt more at home with him.

The next solstice followed with Koushi in his arms as their lips meet midway. No words needed, just a tight embrace that could quell the agonizing burn of longing and ache. They were in love with each other and they didn’t even have to say it. 

At eighteen their relationship matures, especially when Tooru left to pursue a diplomatic mission. _Good riddance_ says Daichi who has expressed his clear dislike against his cousin who bullied Koushi in his youth, despite the waterbender explaining that it wasn’t a big deal to him. Nevertheless, Koushi couldn’t help but feel the buttermoths in his stomach sing when he found out that Daichi had planted an otter-penguin on his cousin’s ship as a ~~revenge~~ prank.

Unfortunately for Daich, it worked out on Tooru’s favor when he came home with an animal companion named Toto.

* * *

With only him and Hajime left as the contenders for the role of chief, his schedule became more hectic and his marriage preparation done in so much haste that he couldn’t reply to his letters or promise to visit the next Solstice Tournament. Koushi feared that it was on purpose to drive a wedge between him and his lover. The strict monitoring of his letters proved so. 

In retaliation, he openly defies his marriage arrangement by frolicking around the tribe with a foreigner when Daichi finally decided to visit him instead. ~~In his room filled with wanton moans specifically.~~ Come morning and Koushi would bask in the gasps and disapproving gazes, most especially Tooru's comical expression when he accidentally walked in on them upon returning home to attend his childhood friends’ wedding.

At wits ends, his parents begged him to cease his _juvenile behavior_ lest he wants to be cursed or worse, excommunicated off the tribe.

“I love him.” He says steely, teeth gritted and eyes burning with fire.

 _“I know.”_ His mother cries. “But the South refuses to let you go. _We_ cannot let you go.”

His father on the other hand, uses Koushi’s vulnerability to his advantage as if they were just negotiating one of his many successful deals. “Unless you become the tribe’s chief, you can take him as your lover instead.”

Koushi bends the water out of his mother’s favorite vase and freezes his father on the ceiling before walking out of the house. 

* * *

They go on a three-day trip at sea with the hours lovingly spent in each other’s arms on a warm bed or eating fish or dancing under the moonlight.

The waterbender could live in the moment forever.

Until he finds Daichi watching the sunrise with one hand on the ledge and the other holds a betrothal necklace that was not made for him and _he knew_ , and Koushi cried.

“Run away with me.” Koushi pleads to the boy who claimed to him more than moon did, but Daichi shakes his head with a rueful smile etched on his lips instead.

“You belong there. And I, here.”

There were many things that suited Koushi- the ice frost that follows in his footsteps, snowflakes in his silver-colored hair or the deep blue embroidery of the ocean waves in his anorak especially made for him. Heartbreak was not one of them.

* * *

It happened on a warm, sunny day when Koushi took Takeru, Chiharu’s five-years-old kid and Tooru’s nephew, on a walk to the Oasis where the spirits resided. A perfect and fateful timing away from the fiery cannons that blasted their icy fortress, instantly killing their families inside.

The ship responsible for the deaths of an eight of the tribe’s population carries a flag with the symbol of a raven crow, the same specie of Daichi’s messenger bird.

* * *

The heat of the ash slightly singes his skin as the elders work on his tribal marks- intricate ocean waves that complimented the koi fishes locked in an eternal dance followed by the glimmers of light in straight lines drawn from his back up to his arms.

Koushi rises when they finished, eyes dead from mourning as he greets the vengeful faces of his tribe. They were exhausted, ridden with grief but heart steeled and fueled with revenge. The warriors and the medics greet their new chief in a battle cry akin to angry seagulls and wolves. 

The war has begun. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to skip this, just some blabber about my personal life.  
> Amongst modules, work and gushing over AtsuHina fanfics and fanarts that exploded in twitter, my boyfriend and I deliberately forgot that our monthsarry was yesterday XD we just remembered this morning after an hourlong debate between OiHina and AstuHina/ TsukiHina supremacy. He ships the latter two hardcore and demands I make a spinoff of this fic. I would if I could but my tight sched means I’ll have to put off two of my OiHina projects but then again I still have the entire November for the otp week but arghhh idk what to do. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter! 
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated :D  
> NEXT UPDATE: OCT. 21


	6. “He’s not coming back, is he?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Deaths and suicides

Tooru wakes to the sound of Shouyou’s name ripped from the back of his throat. He trashes around, terrified of the scourging flames that threatened to consume him alive-

“-up! Wake up!”

Fire. There was fire in Shouyou’s eyes every time they go sledding down the snowy mountain at the back of an otter-penguin. Screams. Tooru would release an undignified scream whenever Shouyou lifts his feet off the ground. Darkness. A comforting existence in the airbender’s room whenever they share his bed, their scent mingled and their breathing a lullaby as they sleep without a care in the world.

“WAKE UP!”

A bucket of ice cold water immediately brings him back to his senses.

“T-Tobio?”

His protégé has grown taller, raven-colored hair parted sideways in his forehead yet his face carries the same scowling expression he had when they first met. Tobio had always looked comically constipated yet this was the first time cobalt eyes mirrored a hint of relief.

“Where’s everybody?” Tobio doesn’t reply, opting to look away instead. On a normal day, the Solstice Tournament specifically, Tooru would’ve yanked his hair down for drenching him in dirty waters and they’d brawl before the official event started. But today, ~~how many days has it been?~~ There were no snide comments or unnecessary jabs, just the deafening silence in a tent that eluded of uneasiness and dread. “Where.is.everybody?”

He clenches his teeth as the memory burn against his icy skin.

_“TOBIO.”_

“Gone.” The grief painted in his face was clear as day. “I- shit. _I’m sorry._ They sunk all three ships that passed through the south’s route, yours included.” Their eyes meet- one pair laced with anguish and the other burning with fury. “You’re the only survivor.”

Tooru chokes on his words filled with accusations and rage, only to feel the fat tears roll down his cheeks instead. His crewmates and Toto- his silly otter-penguin who pushed him off the ledge and protected him with his four feet fury body, had died in the fire while he was here, alive and pathetic. 

“I’m sorry.” Tobio passes him the remnants of his owl whistle in a dried parchment of his latest letter and leaves to give him privacy.

* * *

The war has officially begun as thousands of Fire Nation’s soldiers overwhelm every major region they could come across to. Ba Sing Se most especially, couldn’t help the other lands as the Earth king had his hands full fending off to their invaders. 

Their alliances however, were left defenseless and unprepared.

Meanwhile, Hajime and the North’s Hunt had finally arrived at the Southern Water Tribe approximately eight days after Tooru woke up. What was meant to be a familiar face to provide the waterbender comfort became a harbinger of tragic news in the form of a paper written with the names of the North’s recent body count. 

Tooru’s family was on top of the list.

“They will pay.” Hajime’s snarl resembled a wolf with its teeth bare- an expression filled with hate and vengeance and Tooru immediately shares his sentiments. They agreed to mourn later and deal with the power-hungry bastards first.

The waterbender boards the next ship better equipped and heart steeled to drown any fleet they'll encounter while his childhood friend and some of the Hunt decided to stay at the South. Tooru begged him to come home instead but he knew that Hajime’s main mission was to steal intel from the Fire Nation soldiers who are closer to their land. In doing so, they had to stay close to Whale Tail Island. 

By dawn, they’ve said their goodbyes and a sincere _good luck_ to Tobio despite their rocky history. For all they know, it might be the last time they’ll see each other again.

* * *

Spearheading the North’s reconnaissance group was easier done when Tooru stopped listening to his conscience. Two months at sea as he witnessed the chaos and destruction the Fire Nation has unleashed upon the innocent world had turned him into a cold hearted man with little to no remorse at the deaths in his hands.

His hometown rained of soothe so often that Tooru almost forgot what the North once looked like. The pristine white, icy fortress where he and his friends ran the long hallways through now had deadly ice pikes planted at its gate to keep the enemy fleets out and the immaculate snow was dyed in red and dirt. 

But some sparks weren’t better off quenched as Tooru had seen the burning determination in his cousin’s eyes, the new chief, as he keeps their tribe alive.

Tooru, who had spent his adulthood at sea and in other continents, had the upper hand when it came to advance technology. He had his men built catapults and lightweight traps meant to deter the soldiers from ever stepping foot into their island. Every time a ship comes close to their decks, they are either sunk by an ice powered boulder or overturned by a giant tidal wave. 

For that he had risen from his ranks as a mere war meeting attendee to general in a span of three months. It was known that Tooru and Koushi of the North became an indisputable pair- one a general filled with tactics that could rival the knowledge spirit’s library and the other an indomitable warrior who had led countless battles where the more the Fire Nation took from them, they take it back six folds. 

But the successful winning streaks were only a few victories in war, as one of their plans were eventually bound to go wrong. And it forever haunted Tooru as one of the first deaths he had in indirectly caused. 

It happened when a battalion of Fire Nation soldiers had attempted to infiltrate the fortress through the back, which was under guarded. Tooru’s plan was to make a snow trap to trigger a deadly avalanche guided by ten waterbenders at sight. Fool proof and easy but it came with a risk; someone had to destroy the rift’s leg. And that person _just had_ to be Issei.

Issei and Takahiro were the only ones of the elite Hunt who was assigned to the North but Tooru knew their primary goal was to keep his head above water, had promised Hajime that they wouldn’t let Tooru be drunk with power and lose himself in the war. The couple had succeeded in a way as they became his wakeup call when the rift wouldn’t break and Issei came back for it.

The cold wakes the humanity in Tooru’s bones as he screams and thrash around in the arms of the warriors who kept him from running after his friend. They could’ve abandoned the plan, let a small part of the village breached and fight another day but Takahiro didn’t want to give the Fire Nation that chance either as he followed his husband into the trail of no return. 

They both looked at him one last time with a smile and twinkle of mischief in their eyes. Together they break the rift at the same time the enemy soldiers showed face. The avalanche was successfully triggered and the snow came crashing down before anyone could blink.

The last thing Tooru saw despite the tears in his eyes, ~~when was the last time he cried?~~ was the couple in a tight embrace and a passionate kiss as the white buries them alive.

* * *

_“I believe in you.”_

The stars in Tooru’s dark brown eyes dies as he feels the heavy weight of the masterplan in his hand-a copy of the Fire Nation fleet’s schemes Hajime had taken grueling lengths to steal. But his heart sunk when it wasn’t his childhood friend who delivered the good news himself, instead, he gets four words scribbled at the end of the paper that could only mean one thing.

“Me too.” The waterbender whispers, a stray tear rolls down his cheek. “I believed in you too.”

The South has fallen and Tooru offers bread to all the familiar faces that went down with it- the captured waterbenders, Tobio, Koushi’s fiancée Shimizu, Hajime and the entire hunt. But a small flame lit in wax could barely hold a candle to the number of warriors lost in a sea of blood that will never find their way home. 

* * *

_"I love you until the sun dies.”_ Once upon a time, Tooru had the world in his palms and Shouyou in his heart whereas he had promised his love for him to eternity. Even at the expense of the looming war behind them, the waterbender patiently waited to hear his lover say the same.

Years later, he finally gets his reply from their wounded messenger owl a week after the genocide of an entire nation. No neatly folded letter. No parchment. Just a bloodstained betrothal necklace made in the most untraditional yet beautiful manner with sapphires carved like moon drops.

Interracial marriages often defied and mixed customs that Tooru decided to court the airbender through the language of flowers. Unbeknownst to him, Shouyou thought the same. The very idea made Tooru laugh as he pictures his lover with cuts on his fingers as he had never wielded a carving knife before, and had probably, _begrudgingly_ used up his connections to the Earth Kingdom to have a customized necklace made exclusively for Tooru instead. It was, without a doubt, more expensive than Koutarou’s crown too. 

Nevertheless, he understood what his lover had wanted to say.

_"I love you to the moon and back."_

Even if it was too late.

* * *

“He’s not coming back, is he?” it was a rhetorical question, but Tooru knew he needed to hear it, needed closure despite knowing it will break his heart into two and to the point of no return.

Koushi’s embraces his numb body, feeling their erratic heartbeats in sync. Perhaps it was the full moon making the waterbenders feels this way? Either way, both didn't care as they lay their vulnerabilities bare for the night to see. 

There were seventeen enemy fleets coming their way, completely outnumbering theirs by one to five just as Hajime’s dated. But Tooru has exhausted their resources to fend them off and could only hope the ice wall would buy them time should it come to evacuating the citizens and- _and go where exactly?_ His mind was too muddled with anguish and grief to passage an escape route.

His cousin’s presence and the unused betrothal necklace were the only things that kept him sane in the battlefield.

“He’s not.” Koushi softly answers. “But that doesn’t he’s completely gone.”

Tooru pulls away from the embrace and starts to shout at him with hurtful accusations; that he doesn’t know what it’s like to lose a love one in the face of war, to know they could’ve had it all, to hold and _to love for eternity_ only to let everything slip away from his fingers and it wasn’t even their fault.

_Except he does._ More than anyone and the least expected of them all, Koushi could sympathized with Tooru’s tragic predicament. 

When his throat was hoarse and eyes bloodshot, only then did his cousin continue. Koushi tells him that Shouyou was still in his presence from the moment when he wakes in the morning and grateful to still be alive, in the chilly spring breeze or the feel of warm sunsets. _His love_ would live vicariously through him and that made Tooru cry. 

“Don’t let the war sully your memory of him, Tooru.”

Dark brown orbs rimmed with red and grief watches Koushi disappear from the high rise tower and into the docks. The guards were visibly perturbed as their chief commands them to lock the gates behind him before he facing their enemies alone. 

Everyone watched in anticipation as he disrobes himself of the dark blue parka he wore to display the tribal tattoos that flows in his veins. Then he dances, first gently as the waves from the docks rocks back and forth before completely going standstill with his form.

He brings the ocean down on them.

Koushi completely annihilates the entire fleet with the moonlight in his hair and ocean in his palms. At that moment, his bending skills could rival an Avatar in its state as he raises the water levels hundred then thousands of feet into the air.

From afar, Tooru could see the captain of the Southern Ravens with a despondent yet rueful smile etched on his lips. His eyes looked at Koushi with fondness despite the blood curling screams of his men jumping their ship overboard. Only then Tooru he recognize that the man was Koushi’s lover, and what a cosmic joke it was see each other again like this.

Daichi then pulled a bow and arrow in tow, had the tip lit with a small flame and fired directly towards Koushi’s chest. 

* * *

Tooru stops counting the years or the hollow victories that followed, even after they had successfully chased the Fire Nation away. He has aged older than necessary for he no longer felt dread or anxiety raid after raid. Just numb. Just breathing. Barely swimming in the dark waters of his thoughts but enough not to drown completely. Predictably, the Fire Nation has left them alone for now with whatever resources left for them to brandish while the North lives another day.

The battle was won but the war was far from over.

Except the fight in his spirit has been completely depleted as he leaves Takeru, his only surviving family member, in the hands of the councilmen to train him for chiefdom.

He had completely left the world’s fate in the hands of the next generation. 

The waterbender had expected to live the rest of his days in solitude, forever mourning the loss of his comrades and love ones when one day, he receives a letter that drives him to the brink of insanity.

It was from the owl again, one he had not seen for years since the necklace, and now bearing the insignia of the Earth King’s court. But the king was dead after the heart wrenching decision to indefinitely close Ba Sing Se’s golden gates so it could only meant that it was from his adviser. 

Bokuto wheezes his last breaths in Tooru’s arms as the waterbender softly strokes its majestic feathers that delivered hundreds and thousands of letters that played a part in his romantic correspondence with Shouyou. So when the owl finally passed, Tooru buries him with eternal gratitude in mind.

But the contents written by Keiji made his heart drop- an inquest of Shouyou’s death, no doubt had been written many years ago yet sent late.

He could’ve put it off, drenched the parchment in oil and have it burned it to crisp but curiosity had bested him at that moment and now he tries to comprehend the morbid retelling of lover’s demise- that the airbender was already at the south during the first raids and the avatar in training not in site. They were ambushed and Shouyou- sweet and brave Shouyou, prioritized helping a group of nonbeding nomads evacuate over his safety. Unfortunately they were cornered at the hanging bridge that the airbender stayed behind to buy all the time they needed to escape.

It would’ve been successful but knowing the Fire Nation soldiers will eventually hunt their tracks was not a given. And so Shouyou of the Northern Air Temple sent a sharp gust of wind, completely cutting the bridge ropes off as he and a quarter of the army fell thousands of feet to their deaths. 

Shouyou didn’t fly. Shouyou couldn’t fly.

His brain racked bits of his knowledge from a distant memory, one he had taken for granted when he use to wake with ginger locks sprayed in his pillows and a warm body hooked under his arm. There was a theory whereas the airbender had possessed the ability of weightlessness because he was born eluding with childhood innocence and naivety. He barely had an evil bone in his body that the gales must’ve favored him for that. Much like Guru Laghima, he didn’t need anything tangible in correlation to his happiness.

And then Tooru happened- bounded him in a chain called relationship, became his earthly attachment and had unknowingly clipped his wings in the moment Shouyou needed it the most.

Tooru was his downfall and he couldn’t live with that.

The waterbender doesn’t leave a note, just the opened letter and half-eaten milk bread at his nightstand as he ~~drags his body~~ made his way to the edge. Everyone he loved was gone so what was the point in staying in this cold, cruel world? Even though Koushi once told him that appreciating life was a way of honoring Shouyou’s memory, the knowledge that he had indirectly caused it was a burden too heavy to bear. 

He takes a three deep breaths, eyes devoid of life even as the ocean and the sunrise reflects in it, before he jumps and plunges down into the icy waters, never to be heard of again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One last chapter to go!
> 
> Kudos and comments are very much appreciated :D  
> NEXT UPDATE: OCT. 28


	7. “Say, would you care for some tea with me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Thank you all so much for giving this story a chance. I know I can get boring since I have the tendency to focus on the plot too much that it turns into a narrative than of the love story filled with butterflies singing in the belly reaction but I promise to improve on my next projects. 
> 
> Enjoy and Happy reading!

There was sickening _crack!_ Of his bones followed by the air rapidly depleting from his lungs as the dark waters pull him and his consciousness further into the abyss.

In the back of his muddled mind, he thinks of the many scriptures about the afterlife- stories and tales of what comes next upon the departure of their souls from the earthly realm that Tooru had read in the Northern Air Temple. The uncertainty of reincarnation aside, he had always hoped that as someone who had found his soulmate, he and Shouyou is guaranteed to be reunited in any lifetime. He believes their love was strong enough to transcend through the barriers of living in borrowed time, even if it took death to make it happen. 

His body _burned_ in agonizing pain against the cold but Tooru didn’t mind in the slightest as he _hopes_ to wake in the arms of his beloved and a group of familiar faces with surrounding him.

Except none of sort occurred.

No warm light, no paradise in a garden or dead comrades and lovers. Instead, an enormous, black koi fish circled him as he plunges deeper into the darkness that when he came to it, Tooru became an entirely different being- his body with no temperature and pulse whatsoever reversibly aged to his late twenties and his person developed into an entity.

Tooru was La. And La was Tooru. 

* * *

Yue’s sobs breaks the ocean spirit from his trance that he accidentally breaks the morbid scene of his body coming in contact with the deep sea into a million icy shards. This was a crucial part of his memory core after all, one he was reluctant to share but he needed his companion to understand that his suicide led him to his current fate.

“You didn’t even get to say goodbye.” She cries in his chest and Tooru strokes her locks in comfort. “Sometimes we don’t get to.” He murmurs.

* * *

Being the face of La wasn’t an entirely horrible arrangement. At first he was angered upon realization that he barely had any control over his life, let alone his death, and that La had to audacity to make a decision for him.

“You had no right. NO RIGHT!” He screams at the ghostly fish who offered no words in return but a touch on his forehead accompanied by the swallow of a bright life. In an instance, the ocean spirit’s memories and sub-consciousness merged into his being which allowed him to understand and appreciate life better.

He resigns to his fate there and then.

The war still raged on for a couple of more decades as Tooru resumes a semblance of his diplomatic work in overseeing and preventing the Fire Nation’s destruction, only stepping in when he could. He wasn’t the only spirit upset and affected with the devastation but his wrath was more calculated and controlled. Sometimes he’d topple ships that passed by Full Moon Bay, other times a storm that went for weeks in the North to steer the enemy fleets away. This caused Tooru’s biases to be well-known in the spirit world, the realm he adamantly refuses, but neither he nor La cared. The spirits had always been worshipped and respected in their element so it was only right to offer protection in return. 

But there were also a handful of instances when he has _shamelessly_ lost his temper, letting the humanity in him rule over his omniscient mind. This caused simultaneous sea storms at various shores; mostly at the North until they’ve built up a tradition of offering milk bread in hopes to appease the angered spirit. Surprisingly it worked as it was the only fond thing that reminded him of his mortal life, one that didn’t particularly involve direct human attachments from his friends and family but from his lover.

His lover.

Shouyou.

Sometimes he forgot his name, muddled at the dark depths of the memories he’d like to forget but cannot do so completely while other times he remembers the airbender in the morning chill of daybreak to the warmth of the late sunrise, in the myriad colors of salmon pink colored and muted orange that painted the sky.

Shouyou’s laughter was a ghost echoing through the passing gale that sometimes Tooru couldn’t help but seek him out.

But alas, his reincarnation was nowhere to be found. Not the in the spirit world in the few times he had visited, or in any Lucifer dogfishes in the ocean Shouyou once joked about merging with. It was as if his entire existence was wiped out in the face of the world but a chapter in King Koutarou of the Earth Kingdom’s life and in Tooru’s memory. 

Which was why he almost killed Avatar Aang’s sleeping body in the ice berg.

It wasn’t fair that Shouyou became a forgotten memory, another face and body count of the hundreds and thousands of deaths caused by this boy’s negligence. The thought alone t made Tooru’s blood boil in rage.

He should’ve killed him, Tooru seethes, as a tribute or compensation for all that they’ve suffered while Aang slept in comfort and protection but he knew the other spirits would turn against him if he did so. The entire world would.

And so the ocean spirit settles to merely watching over him until the time was right, which was roughly ninety-nine years after the first raid when two siblings in a canoe accidentally stumbled across him.

Sokka and Katara were siblings of the Southern Water Tribe with mix blood from the north- the older of the two a warrior and the other a waterbender. But despite their obvious differences, both were _the last_ of their tribe that fate had probably woven their stars to align in encountering the last airbender. It was them who accidentally destroyed the iceberg and woke the sleeping Avatar which triggered a chain of events that changed the world _forever._

“Will you go otter-penguin sliding with me?” says Aang excitedly, brushing the residues of the long hibernation away as grey eyes start to fill with wonder.

_Tooru loses it._

The ocean rises at a high sea level that could’ve wiped out the entire Southern Tribe but in a short moment of clarity, he redirects his anger to the banished Fire Nation Prince just miles away from their location instead. He maneuvers Zuko to them and considers it as divine punishment.

Except it wasn’t, just the intertwining of their fates that Tooru played a huge hand in.

* * *

The Gaang, a horrible and unofficial abbreviation of Avatar Aang’s _Gang,_ travelled around the world ten times more than Tooru had ever spent in his diplomat life. They were running away from trouble, running _into_ trouble or creating trouble themselves that all eyes from the spirit world were also on them. Most watched in entertainment as they gamble in events of the teenagers amusing choices whereas the others placed their _hopes_ on them. 

Tooru followed at a close pursuit long enough for the ice walls of his cold heart to melt at the entertaining events that unfolded in front of him- from Aang riding the serpent at Full Moon bay up, his innocent pinning for Katara, their shenanigans up to helping him re-conquer his hometown when an arrogant Fire Nation general decided to ‘murder’ Tui. Tooru then merges with him in his Avatar state to lend him the ocean’s power, successfully saving both the North and the moon spirit.

It was only then he truly realized that Aang was only twelve yet he carried the weight of the world in his shoulder, a mirror of who young Tooru used to be. Then three years later and during the failed battle of the black sun did he _finally forgive_ the avatar when the poor boy went after a stray Fire Nation ship to prove that he was still alive in hopes of nursing his bruised pride when he lost Ba Sing Se. Yue then talked some senses into him while Tooru drifts him back to safety.

The war continued but that singular moment was a pivoting point as the year was filled with character development where the avatar who feared fire learned the element in the banished prince they once considered their mortal enemy, the soft-hearted waterbender could also turn stone cold upon the remembrance of her loss, her warrior brother lets go of his misogynistic ways and their feisty runaway earthbender learned to take proper accountability. 

It was amusing as much as it was endearing when Tooru was reminded of his own friends in them- he sees Koushi’s resilience in Katara, Issei and Takahiro’s horrible sense of humor in Sokka and Hajime’s strength in Toph and Sukki. Most importantly, he sees Shouyou in the childish innocence of Aang’s eyes as well as Zuko’s burning determination.

Then it all ended on the day that started everything, Sozin’s comet.

All realms rejoiced for balance was finally restored. Peace was _always_ fleeting but the hundred year’s war took too much in a way that hope was almost and completely lost. Tooru, who was not far from the coasts to where the final battle commenced, released the breath he had unknowingly been holding followed by a ludicrous laugh that echoed through the waves.

It was finally over and Tooru could move on now.

Which brings him and Yue back to their hometown, reminiscing his mortal life as he grieves. He never really did manage to properly mourn his love ones, opting to surrender his humanity to Tui’s sub-consciousness time to time instead. But the war no longer looming behind him and justice was finally served; now he knew what needed to be done.

“Is that-?” Yue’s eyes widened in fascination when Tooru takes his betrothal necklace out as it was her first time seeing it in person up close. During her previous life, she had seen La’s mural version of a young man’s with dark brown hair and longing eyes mirroring the vast oceans. His expensive clothes in ten shades of blue and black were no match for the singular shine of the stone he wore- one that was intricately carved upon his lover’s request paired with precious moon drops.

No one ever had enough riches to replicate it.

“The saddest proposal ever.” Tooru laughs as they make their way to the edge. He brings the stone to his lips and whispers. “You’ve set me free. Now it’s my turn.” And drops it to the heart of the ocean.

* * *

Tooru and Yue returns to their realm using the North’s Oasis, only retaining their forms at the soak of the sacred waters. Normally the spirits would turn heads at their arrival as La rarely visited but they were still _buzzing in excitement_ from the current Avatar’s success as well as the crowing of a new Fire Lord, one from the royal bloodline but with a strong sense of righteousness.

Currently, it seems something else has caught their attention, or rather, someone. Namely a fire god who had vanished from the face of both worlds since the war started by his kin broke out.

Now there was an unofficial hierarchy of existence in their world- from the lowly demons to the spirits who laid waste upon the mortal realm to the protectors like Tui and La. The Avatar was somewhere along the line but above them all were the existence of the gods. Though they rarely visited either worlds to prevent intervening in their affairs as they opt to stay away from prying eyes, hence the depiction of their forms were merely an elemental symbol.

“Hi.”

The crowd parts to reveal a pair of jeweled beryl eyes staring straight into Tooru’s, accompanied by a smile far too intimate for a supposed stranger. 

“Hi yourself.” Says Tooru.

His hair was an array of soft orange hues reflecting any amount of light in his passing much like crystal prisms while the exposed gold tattoos written in old characters too ancient to read glimmered at every movement. The only muting factor of the bright colors in his existence was the sleeveless white robes he wore- one magnificently embroidered with a piece of the cosmic thread. Very fitting for a sun god.

They made their ways towards each other, forgetting the other spirits who watched them in anticipation. 

“Say, would you care for some tea with me?” asks Shouyou. 

Tooru grins. “Definitely.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BANZAIIII IT'S DONE! some final notes would be Tooru dropping his precious necklace was his way of saying goodbye to Shouyou so hope you liked that small titanic moment XD and Shouyou being Agni's form had something to do with his lineage as mentioned in one of the chapters that he had fire nation blood in him too. So Again thank you so so so much for reading, for all the kudos and comments. See you in the next one!
> 
> So here are some of my project reveals for November, though the titles are subjective to change and others are still an idea:  
> Requiem for the Unburnt- sequel of A Song from the Oasis, from Shouyou Hinata's POV in Karasuno Court. Lots of scheming involved. 
> 
> Of Volleyballs and Pompoms- The devil works hard but Irihata works harder. Or, the OiHina love story from enemies to friends and to lovers. One a stubborn, good looking volleyball setter whereas the other a sunshine boy and love magnet cheerleader. But both are stupid and in denial of their feelings that their coach had to intervene. 
> 
> The Habits of Osamu's Heart- Hinata defying what's expected of him, as usual.
> 
> The Best Man- Kageyama just wants to get through the weekend and give Hinata the best bachelor party ever... if only the dumbass and his fiancé weren't banned on every clubs in Rio.   
> ft. the worst team of groomsmen ever made (includes and is not limited to Ushiwaka, the lesser evil of the Miya Twins, Saltyshima, and Hinata's sugar daddy) and Oikawa being the bridezilla of his nightmares but hey, there is no wedding without drama. 
> 
> TO UPDATE:   
> A Basketful of Love- delaying chapter 2 for tomorrow. OCT. 29 T^T feeling under the weather today that I could only proofread one story.  
> Where the Angels Used to Be, chapter 01- NOVEMBER. 30


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